So that other thing I was going to get to.
Why, when we can only afford a 64 x 256 metre of mainland, would we want to continue. When everyone (who belonged and RPed in more than one sim) had a place to go, why would we even bother trying to keep the dream alive?
I have asked myself this a lot. The only thing I did know is I felt a nasty gap in the place my Second Life once was. While everyone else was moving on, I had never felt so alone in-world. You would think I would log out and do something else. But when something has been part of your daily life for so long, it isn't so easy to do. Home is a complicated issue for me in both on and off the Grid, and I admit that this is factoring heavily into my real life at the moment.
So I went looking, at all the many fantasy sims that I could find. (Fantasy is the only thing I am interested in when it comes to Second Life) I found plenty of good RP sims, maybe a couple where we could fit. Either with alts or with seriously modified story lines.
But the reasons I couldn't settle was more than my snobbish frowning upon sims with furry and child avatar hatred. The reality is, I don't have any alts so crucial to my happiness that I could depend on them solely. And editing people out of our main's joint storylines was sort of like erasing parts of their own character's core personalities. Basically, making them different characters.
I don't think it is a secret that the conception of The Seven Isles and it's vision predated me, nor was the philosophy of family and acceptance my own. Except I knew when I found it I had found home. Because I knew when I found it, that this is what I would do, if I were to start a community in Second Life. You could say, that is why I joined up on staff when the opportunity was offered to me. The Seven Isles wasn't just the perfect sim, it was practically my real life dreams of Utopia.
A simple life, something no one has in the real world. Epicurus called it Ataraxia. Ataraxia is very important to me in my personal life as well. I have mentioned before that RP was my Ataraxia.
What I have learned is that out of all of these good RP sims, We actually did provide something unique. No classes, no cliques, no guilds or factions. Instead we had equality, families and trades that helped us express and celebrate our individuality. I have always known that we were never a big and as bad ass as a lot of these other sims, I never really wanted to be.
Uniqueness is not what people usually want, no matter what they say. People want familiarity and mainstream for a reason. One knows what to do and what to expect in those situations, and that is understandable. People like structure and leadership. But for me, those are "chains" in a way. there is a Jim Morrison quote that sums it up for me,
"People are terrified to be set free – they hold on to their chains. They fight anyone who tries to break those chains. It's their security"
What he is saying here, is people can not always feel safe enough to do something with out some firm parameters. Perhaps that is why our community in itself, was unique people without parameters. I can not speak for anyone else but myself, but this is why I felt so lost.
So I guess you could say, our very humble (and perhaps doomed) desire to rise from the ashes are for selfish reasons. However knowing that we had something that others did not, I can not help but think there are others out there seeking what we had. Perhaps it *is* a minority (and Gods know lower numbers don't pay the bills) but I think it is a minority worth at least trying keeping alive.
I just need a world where things made in imagination are flesh. I need a world where children play and explore. I need a place of growth, and intrigue, and peace. If I want to beat the shit out of something I'll play Dungeon Siege
Showing posts with label Seven Isles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seven Isles. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Friday, June 3, 2011
Upgrading the Sim: One Year Later.
It's been a year now since three elders sold a homestead, scraped together an additional $1000 USD and called in a favour or two in order to upgrade our Homestead into a full sim. It seems such a long time ago that we (the three of us) did this, and I can not imagine life on a homestead anymore. How did we ever manage with so few prims, and without all that scripting power?
Not very well, actually. Don't get me wrong, we hung in there and we made do, because that was what was required for the sim to be born a few months before Eacen and I arrived. We did the best with what we had to keep the sim alive. Because, we three have a deep love for our land. We took the (current) Seven Isles from a flat piece of land, made peaks and valleys, found water, and raised trees and plants.
Hard to believe this is what it looked like during it's birthing process...
We used to be so tight on prims, that at any given moment, someone could have rezzed their hair to make a copy, and sent belongings back to their owners. Believe it or not, around the time we upgraded we were down to one hundred available prims. One Hundred!
Up until that point many visitors moaned that we lacked the power to run a proper RP, and they were right. Of course, we were also lacking in many other things that makes an RP successful. We had a plot but no other admins, no committed players. People have a way of volunteering for things like administration, and showing up to play... and then not following through.
Initially, The Seven Isles saw a fantastic jump in participation, a few weeks later we were awed and humbled by being featured in the destination guide. Winter was very quiet, and so slow that many people (myself included) worried about the Sim's demise. But we pulled through, and then *finally* kicked off the skeleton of the RP storyline. People were a little slow to realize that disasters were happening right in front of their eyes, but once they did It was epic, and beautiful and it really showed the potential we have as an RP sim. Many people came to us and said it was the best they had ever been in. It was the best I had ever been in, too.
But it was very hard work for us three elders, (who also build, socialize, and organize events when we have the time) to run that start on our own. After all, we all have families, and jobs, and lives outside of Second Life. By the time we reached the peak of the story, we three were left exhausted, but optimistic that now the ball was rolling and the players now had a ball to play with.
If only someone would... you know... bend over and pick up the ball now that we got it rolling, and maybe throw it to one another and Roleplay without our constant guidance and direction. I will be blunt. I am dissapointed that all that work has changed very little.
People (bless them) seem to want us to hold their hands, but our hands are already *so* full just keeping it all running.
I was told recently by a member (who has actually done something to spark activity on the sim without our prompting, which is most awesome) that this has been a common rp sim problem in many sims he had visited. Everyone stands around with their thumb up their bum, waiting for something to happen, and when it doesn't they find something else to do. It means they miss the opportunities To RP when something *does* happen, or those opportunities just don't happen, because why do anything when no one is around to see it?
It is a frustrating cycle. I wish more people understood that if they want to RP, (on any sim, not just ours) they have to take some initiative to engage, interact, and allow themselves to grow.
Now, don't get me wrong, I do not intend to give up on The Seven Isles, but any Sim owner(s) who does not question whether things will be viable in the long term when they do not make tier that month, is lying.
Once again, I am going to be blunt: It is a lot of responsibility for me (I won't speak for the other elders, they have voices of their own) to log in and find that what members we have that are willing to stay around and RP, still depend on us for everything.
I do not think that what we need is a bunch of admins herding players around like sheep. We are often commended for our lack of Drama, No intimidating authority and lack of rigid rules, probably because we do not have a lot of Admins.
But I have to say, with some disappointment, that I thought providing our people with a full sim, objects to perform their trade with, and plenty of things to do most people still want us to hold their hands and tell them a story. No one wants to make their own story, and allow others to make a community story with them.
I also have to say this. I know it can be done. A few weeks ago Eacen and I took a break from our main avatars, and jumped into two child avatars we created to help with a project that (surprise) someone abandoned. We wanted to see just how much RP one could create for themselves with little or no help.
We had a blast! We built a steam powered wagon that we drove around the sim at high speeds.
We took a row boat to the top of the lighthouse, and jumped off the top. We flew kites, coloured, climbed mountains, discovered treasure under the sea.
(it was a crate of mayonnaise, sadly) We swam, and banged on drums.
We quaked in the fear of an Unseelie Fae visitor, and ran away from a strange man speaking a language that frightened us. We even "borrowed" items from the blacksmith's right under the noses of people waiting for something to happen.
Pete, who is always there was even game. We played a drinking game with him where 1 shot with our toy arrows, meant we would buy him 1 shot. He loved it!
Not content to play darts, we put our own spin on the game
We even RPed our afternoon nap.
In a week, Eacen and I created plenty of RP for ourselves, and this was without interacting with one other person. (not a single adult stopped us to warn us we were up to no good, or could get hurt.) Imagine what could have been done if people just engaged, and added their own elements that week. Now, keep in mind that the child avatars have *less* to do than the adults in our sim, and yet we did so much that week. Surely, the grownups can too. Can't they?
and on that, I will end with a rhetorical question.
What do you want to do in the Seven Isles?
What is stopping you?
Certainly not the Elders.
Peace and love,
Korinna.
Not very well, actually. Don't get me wrong, we hung in there and we made do, because that was what was required for the sim to be born a few months before Eacen and I arrived. We did the best with what we had to keep the sim alive. Because, we three have a deep love for our land. We took the (current) Seven Isles from a flat piece of land, made peaks and valleys, found water, and raised trees and plants.
- Hard to believe this is what the Sim looked like at the begining.
Hard to believe this is what it looked like during it's birthing process...
We used to be so tight on prims, that at any given moment, someone could have rezzed their hair to make a copy, and sent belongings back to their owners. Believe it or not, around the time we upgraded we were down to one hundred available prims. One Hundred!
Up until that point many visitors moaned that we lacked the power to run a proper RP, and they were right. Of course, we were also lacking in many other things that makes an RP successful. We had a plot but no other admins, no committed players. People have a way of volunteering for things like administration, and showing up to play... and then not following through.
Initially, The Seven Isles saw a fantastic jump in participation, a few weeks later we were awed and humbled by being featured in the destination guide. Winter was very quiet, and so slow that many people (myself included) worried about the Sim's demise. But we pulled through, and then *finally* kicked off the skeleton of the RP storyline. People were a little slow to realize that disasters were happening right in front of their eyes, but once they did It was epic, and beautiful and it really showed the potential we have as an RP sim. Many people came to us and said it was the best they had ever been in. It was the best I had ever been in, too.
But it was very hard work for us three elders, (who also build, socialize, and organize events when we have the time) to run that start on our own. After all, we all have families, and jobs, and lives outside of Second Life. By the time we reached the peak of the story, we three were left exhausted, but optimistic that now the ball was rolling and the players now had a ball to play with.
If only someone would... you know... bend over and pick up the ball now that we got it rolling, and maybe throw it to one another and Roleplay without our constant guidance and direction. I will be blunt. I am dissapointed that all that work has changed very little.
People (bless them) seem to want us to hold their hands, but our hands are already *so* full just keeping it all running.
I was told recently by a member (who has actually done something to spark activity on the sim without our prompting, which is most awesome) that this has been a common rp sim problem in many sims he had visited. Everyone stands around with their thumb up their bum, waiting for something to happen, and when it doesn't they find something else to do. It means they miss the opportunities To RP when something *does* happen, or those opportunities just don't happen, because why do anything when no one is around to see it?
It is a frustrating cycle. I wish more people understood that if they want to RP, (on any sim, not just ours) they have to take some initiative to engage, interact, and allow themselves to grow.
Now, don't get me wrong, I do not intend to give up on The Seven Isles, but any Sim owner(s) who does not question whether things will be viable in the long term when they do not make tier that month, is lying.
Once again, I am going to be blunt: It is a lot of responsibility for me (I won't speak for the other elders, they have voices of their own) to log in and find that what members we have that are willing to stay around and RP, still depend on us for everything.
I do not think that what we need is a bunch of admins herding players around like sheep. We are often commended for our lack of Drama, No intimidating authority and lack of rigid rules, probably because we do not have a lot of Admins.
But I have to say, with some disappointment, that I thought providing our people with a full sim, objects to perform their trade with, and plenty of things to do most people still want us to hold their hands and tell them a story. No one wants to make their own story, and allow others to make a community story with them.
I also have to say this. I know it can be done. A few weeks ago Eacen and I took a break from our main avatars, and jumped into two child avatars we created to help with a project that (surprise) someone abandoned. We wanted to see just how much RP one could create for themselves with little or no help.
We had a blast! We built a steam powered wagon that we drove around the sim at high speeds.
We took a row boat to the top of the lighthouse, and jumped off the top. We flew kites, coloured, climbed mountains, discovered treasure under the sea.
(it was a crate of mayonnaise, sadly) We swam, and banged on drums.
We quaked in the fear of an Unseelie Fae visitor, and ran away from a strange man speaking a language that frightened us. We even "borrowed" items from the blacksmith's right under the noses of people waiting for something to happen.
Pete, who is always there was even game. We played a drinking game with him where 1 shot with our toy arrows, meant we would buy him 1 shot. He loved it!
Not content to play darts, we put our own spin on the game
We even RPed our afternoon nap.
In a week, Eacen and I created plenty of RP for ourselves, and this was without interacting with one other person. (not a single adult stopped us to warn us we were up to no good, or could get hurt.) Imagine what could have been done if people just engaged, and added their own elements that week. Now, keep in mind that the child avatars have *less* to do than the adults in our sim, and yet we did so much that week. Surely, the grownups can too. Can't they?
and on that, I will end with a rhetorical question.
What do you want to do in the Seven Isles?
What is stopping you?
Certainly not the Elders.
Peace and love,
Korinna.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Busy busy.
That;s what I've been. I am switching (IC) careers, and much building needs to be done.
While visiting the lovely ladies two doors down, I caught a very sweet picture:
They look pretty happeh.
While visiting the lovely ladies two doors down, I caught a very sweet picture:
They look pretty happeh.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Have you seen me?
I am so desperate for this hair, and yet can not find it anywhere.
(Product found at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ZARA/58/73/30 But not the hair.)
Also, this hair, which is so similar they might be the same:
But even though this kindly vendor offers a note card filled with hair locations from their models, this one is not included in the list. (Product found here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chinook/253/128/38) but not the hair.
I have bought a lot of hair lately, which always means a lot of fail, even when you try on the demos firest. But, such is second life.
On the wise words of my dear brother, I realize somethings have to change about how I spend my time in SL, it's about balance. It didn't occur to me until this morning that perhaps if I played more in the land that I love, that more people would be playing with me, and thus, my work would be done.
Today, I need to spend some time in the RPM, and Brenn though. fortunately it involves shopping for things. Yay shopping!
(Product found at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/ZARA/58/73/30 But not the hair.)
Also, this hair, which is so similar they might be the same:
But even though this kindly vendor offers a note card filled with hair locations from their models, this one is not included in the list. (Product found here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chinook/253/128/38) but not the hair.
I have bought a lot of hair lately, which always means a lot of fail, even when you try on the demos firest. But, such is second life.
On the wise words of my dear brother, I realize somethings have to change about how I spend my time in SL, it's about balance. It didn't occur to me until this morning that perhaps if I played more in the land that I love, that more people would be playing with me, and thus, my work would be done.
Today, I need to spend some time in the RPM, and Brenn though. fortunately it involves shopping for things. Yay shopping!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Getting into the Swing of things: Harder than it sounds.
I have such a case of mixed emotions and frustrations now, having been offline, and being back. It's like, I have lost my place in a book I was reading, and am so behind on homework I don't know where to begin. I can't tell where I am more needed, or my time is better spent. I feel guilty for even wanting to work on personal projects, and I feel guilty for standing around doing little, when I don't know what to do! Don't get me wrong, I am not looking for a list of chores, but self direction and better time management for myself. Because I look at the goals I had when I signed on, I hear people criticize that they have not been "started" (when they have.) I want to work on those, too.
I could look at it as time to play, to make a change too. But I've done enough sleeping on the job.
Oh shit. that got Emo! I'm just saying I am not trying to be a waste of pixels right now, I'm just kind of at a loss.
I could look at it as time to play, to make a change too. But I've done enough sleeping on the job.
Oh shit. that got Emo! I'm just saying I am not trying to be a waste of pixels right now, I'm just kind of at a loss.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wakefulness Corinda (third person)
...As the sleepy fog cleared from her eyes, she found herself in a glade surrounded by the beautiful faces and auras of glamour that only the nymphs could possess and see. She was certain, that this had to be a dream, she'd seen so few nymphs since she returned home to the Seven Isles. But it was the sweet smell of (blossoms) that filled her mind, and stirred her to accept the reality.
Even though her drowsy mind could not accept how, or why she woke up in a place different to where she fell to sleep, in the heavy arms of her barrel chested-larger than life beloved, but she knew where she was; Kýpros.
With one of the maps she made herself, and a pocket full of gold from his father. Avry had paid his way back to the island where his father was born, where nymphs were plentiful, and their lore of plants and minerals and their healing properties were rich. It was the nymphs that nursed her out of her coma, and restored glamour inside of her that returned the bark-like patterns to her skin, and the branch like kinks and twists to her hair that had fallen flat over the years.
She knew in her heart that Eacen --more than anyone-- would love to see Kýpros again, so there must have been a good reason for him not to accompany her himself. Of course, he had a sister, and a daughter too small for travel to care for. There was a community, he felt a part of and could not abandon.
Kýpros may have been Eacen's home, but Corinda realized that the land she ran to looking for fellow nymphs, and fell in love with the man she would start her family with; it was her home too. The proof was in the fact that much like being away from Seven Isles weakened due to the distance from her tree, and her family.
But she had clearly been defenseless from the changing of seasons, and the lack of presence of nymphs. The temperate climate and special magic of the island held some form of renewal for her, too. And she wondered, at times, if this was where her father was from, and if he had the restless traveling spirit that she and Avry possessed. Maybe her link to Kýpros was more than just one of romance, and sisterhood.
In any event, it did not matter now. She was awake, and invigorated and it was time to go where her heart was, to her family she had missed, even as she slept. It would be hard to leave the now serene lands of Kýpros, but it was harder, to be away from her home, it was her Alpha and Omega.
Even though her drowsy mind could not accept how, or why she woke up in a place different to where she fell to sleep, in the heavy arms of her barrel chested-larger than life beloved, but she knew where she was; Kýpros.
With one of the maps she made herself, and a pocket full of gold from his father. Avry had paid his way back to the island where his father was born, where nymphs were plentiful, and their lore of plants and minerals and their healing properties were rich. It was the nymphs that nursed her out of her coma, and restored glamour inside of her that returned the bark-like patterns to her skin, and the branch like kinks and twists to her hair that had fallen flat over the years.
She knew in her heart that Eacen --more than anyone-- would love to see Kýpros again, so there must have been a good reason for him not to accompany her himself. Of course, he had a sister, and a daughter too small for travel to care for. There was a community, he felt a part of and could not abandon.
Kýpros may have been Eacen's home, but Corinda realized that the land she ran to looking for fellow nymphs, and fell in love with the man she would start her family with; it was her home too. The proof was in the fact that much like being away from Seven Isles weakened due to the distance from her tree, and her family.
But she had clearly been defenseless from the changing of seasons, and the lack of presence of nymphs. The temperate climate and special magic of the island held some form of renewal for her, too. And she wondered, at times, if this was where her father was from, and if he had the restless traveling spirit that she and Avry possessed. Maybe her link to Kýpros was more than just one of romance, and sisterhood.
In any event, it did not matter now. She was awake, and invigorated and it was time to go where her heart was, to her family she had missed, even as she slept. It would be hard to leave the now serene lands of Kýpros, but it was harder, to be away from her home, it was her Alpha and Omega.
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